LA Storage LLC, a division of Sempra LNG, plans to build new 20-bcf natural gas salt dome storage and associated compression and pipeline in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes, La. The Hackberry Storage Project will involve the conversion of three existing salt dome caverns to natural gas storage service and the development of one new salt dome cavern, as well as construction of 16 miles of 42-in. OD pipeline. LA Storage hopes to receive US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval by 2022 to meet a targeted 2024 in-service date.
The three existing caverns will store 16.1 bcf of natural gas, 12.64 bcf of working gas, and 3.46 bcf of base gas. The new, proposed cavern will store 9.4 bcf of natural gas, 7.39 bcf of working gas, and 2.01 bcf of base gas. The total capacity of the four caverns will be 25.5 bcf, 20.03 bcf of working gas, and 5.47 bcf of base gas. The project will be designed to inject and withdraw natural gas into storage at a maximum rate of 1.5 bcfd.
LA Storage will also build the Pelican compressor station on site, using four 5,350-hp natural gas-driven reciprocating units. The compressors will be designed to compress natural gas at suction pressures of 650-1,440 psig and discharge natural gas at pressures of 1,000-2,300 psig.
The proposed Hackberry Pipeline consists of 11.1 miles of 42-in. OD line connecting the storage caverns to the planned interstate pipeline owned by LA Storage’s affiliate, Port Arthur Pipeline LLC (PAPL) by extending north to PAPL’s Louisiana Connector Pipeline approved by FERC for construction in Calcasieu Parish (OGJ Online, Apr. 18, 2019). The proposed CIP Lateral, a 4.9-mile, 42-in. pipeline, will extend from Hackberry Storage in Cameron Parish north to connect it with the existing 42-in. interstate pipeline owned by LA Storage’s affiliate, CIP, in Calcasieu Parish. The interconnection of the CIP Lateral to the CIP pipeline will be just south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
LA Storage is jointly owned by SEI Storage Corp. (75%), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sempra Energy International, and ProLiance Transportation and Storage-Liberty LLC (25%).